September 12, 2013. Posted by Rachel Cantrell.

The Dave King Trio loves a good room. Since there is none finer than the 123-seat Village Vanguard, we hope you will enjoy our live broadcast of this group from the club on Wednesday, September 11 at 8:30 p.m. Click the link to hear this concert, and review the comments of listeners during the show. Enjoy!

L-R: Carrothers, Peterson, King photo by John Rogers for NPR/WBGO

More than a taste of High Lonesome infuses the trio’s moody renderings of jazz standards on their 2012 debut CD I’ve Been Ringing You. The disc was recorded, with a minimum of intervention, over an afternoon in a church choir loft off Highway 7 in Hopkins, Minnesota; all three musicians hail from the North Star State.

All of this atmospheric instrospection may surprise those who know King from his day job, as the emotionally direct drummer of The Bad Plus. King’s askew, genre-defying rhythms are the Tesla coil of that trio’s paint-peeling take on jazz, which has reached the ears of a post-rock generation, earning fans along the way.

You’ll hear none of that here. The Dave King Trio comes to play jazz, and plays it with quiet assurance. It features a mellower, almost ghostly sound from the drummer, as his ride cymbal floats above Bill Carrothers’ piano intro on Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman,” or in a swinging duet with with Billy Peterson’s bass on “Some Will Say We’re In Love.”

Yet as always with King, there are surprises: he opens Gordon Jenkins’ deep-blue classic “Goodbye” with the eerie, ethereal whine of something called a “waterphone,” then settles into a soft dialogue on wire brushes with Carrothers’ piano. These three musicians inhabit the heart of the jazz tradition, yet push expectations as they move their sound through a room.

The trio’s residency at Village Vanguard runs through Sunday, September 15th. WBGO and NPR Music featured this live concert by the band, broadcast on air and as a video webcast, on Wednesday, September 11th at 8:30 p.m.

June 5, 2013. Posted by Tim Wilkins.

WBGO presented pianist Kenny Barron's quintet live from New York's Village Vanguard nightclub on April 5 at 8:30 p.m. You can watch video from this broadcast here.

Barron was joined by Vincent Herring on alto saxophone, Brandon Lee on trumpet, Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and Lee Pearson on drums. The group celebrated Barron's 70th birthday, as well as the legacy of pianist Mulgrew Miller, a close friend and collaborator of Barron's, who passed away the previous week. Enjoy!

April 4, 2012. Posted by Tim Wilkins.

WBGO presented Live At The Village Vanguard with Craig Taborn on piano, Gerald Cleaver on drums and Thomas Morgan on bass, Wednesday April 4, 2012. Watch the archived concert footag below, and read the conversation with hosts Josh Jackson, Patrick Jarenwattananon and Tim Wilkins below.

February 13, 2012. Posted by Brandy Wood.

There's a tradition in many New York City jazz clubs: Monday nights are reserved for big bands. The Village Vanguard, the most storied of clubs, has observed this practice since 1966, when the originally titled Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra were booked in the club for three Monday nights in February. The performances have been taking place ever since.

On Monday, February 13 WBGO brought you its 50th broadcast from The Village Vanguard with the group who continues the tradition, now called the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Producer and host of Live at the Village Vanguard, Josh Jackson, said, "It makes a lot of sense to celebrate this exceptional band for our 50th program. The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra represents an ongoing 46 year commitment to the Village Vanguard. The VJO is the cornerstone of Monday night jazz performance in New York. Presenting them on Live at the Village Vanguard was overdue."

November 9, 2011. Posted by Tim Wilkins.

WBGO presents tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry with Orrin Evans on piano, Eric Revis on bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums, live from the Village Vanguard. The group will play highlights from McHenry's forthcoming CD release, Ghosts of the Sun.

We're live from the Vanguard every month, in partnership with our friends at NPR Music, and you can check out some of our past broadcasts here. Explore a bit, and among other treats you'll discover our 2009 broadcast of two sets with McHenry's Quintet, also from the Village Vanguard. Enjoy!